Friday,
July 25, 2014
In commenting on pertinent
national affairs, Dr. Richard Amoako Baah (a political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology) has
of late said a lot but hasn’t turned my crank, apparently because I don’t agree
with his viewpoints, especially those undermining the Mahama-led
administration. I have quickly dismissed much of his effusions as the
outpourings of a frustrated academic seeking to draw attention to himself in
view of what he teaches. In other words, I have seen him as stepping out of the
political science box into the national arena to do partisan politics—for
whatever purpose only he can best know and tell.
But he has come out again to say
what resonates with me at many levels, taking out his impetuous claim that
because President Mahama hasn’t been able to fulfill the electioneering
campaign promises made to Ghanaians, he has lost credibility. I don’t think
that President Mahama’s inability to fulfill those promises is because he is
unprincipled or politically naïve or mischievous. After all, the resources for
funding projects that he promised won’t come from his private coffers. They
would come from the national coffers that the hardworking Ghanaian workers feed
with their tax money and other contributions.
It is clear that President Mahama’s
government is facing serious obstacles and can’t fulfill those promises until
those obstacles are tackled. The economic situation doesn’t allow for any
wholesale fulfillment of promises, not because President Mahama is callous or
unconscionable. He knows the implications and should be left to his own Fate on
that score. To focus on that element and create the kind of impression that Dr.
Amoako Baah has wrought is baseless, at least, and unbecoming of such an
academic, to put it bluntly.
This aspect of Dr. Amoako Baah’s
utterances notwithstanding, there are other issues stemming from him that I
totally agree with:
·
It will be prudent for the president to address
the whole nation and assure the citizenry of the steps government is taking to
address issues to do with the high cost of living (within the context of
yesterday’s nationwide demonstration by organized labour and identifiable
sections of the citizenry). "Normally I would say it (a nationwide
address) will reassure people. But the problem is that the president has given
so many promises he has not kept that I am afraid he has lost that
credibility. Maybe that is why he doesn't come out to do those things. But
nonetheless as long as he remains president he should be forward looking and
tackle the bull by the horn."
Some of us have asked the President to be proactive in such
instances and to use the nationwide broadcast as a way of reaching out to the
people; but hasn’t done so, taking comfort in operating from his office at the
Flagstaff House, doing the age-old stale routine job of commissioning envoys
and receiving letters of accreditation from others posted to Ghana, among other
engagements. Does he not see the need for anything beyond such routine
engagements to know how to claw back lost grounds?
·
The
Employment Minister, Haruna Iddrisu received a petition from the aggrieved
workers and promised them government would address their grievances. But Dr
Amoako Baah says the assurances by the Minister are not enough. He told Joy News' Francisca Kakra Forson, Friday, the
minister only spoke to suffering workers in the formal sector but there are
millions others in the informal sector, such as 'kayayei' (head porters)
who are worst hit by the economic crisis and whose concerns must also be
addressed by the president himself.
True. Who is Haruna Iddrissu when it comes to
the enormous problems that provoked the demonstrations and are dangerously
undercutting the government’s support base? He is no high-ranking government
official nor does he command any trust, confidence, or optimism that the
problems raised in the petition will be addressed to end suffering. To put it
more pointedly, even though it is known that the petition would reach the
President, it cannot be accepted that Haruna Iddrissu should be the one to
front for the President on the occasion. Why is the President himself not
visibly handling issues to prove to the angry demonstrators and Ghanaians
critical of his government’s inability to solve problems that he is on top of
the situation?
Dr. Amoako Baah said that he was surprised that the president did
not intervene in the issue relating to the University Teachers Association of
Ghana (UTAG) and waited till the angry lecturers declared a strike. “It is not
always about money. It is important for the president to diffuse the anger by
talking to people”.
True again. Being proactive means establishing a good and reliable
working relationship with all segments of the society that matter to national
development efforts. Delegating authority so others can engage such
constituents is good, but in this case when the President comes across as
detached from the people, it is wrong for him not to interact with UTAG/POTAG
or the Ghana Medical Association. What is preventing him from dealing directly
with these constituencies at this time that tension is rising because of the worsening
economic situation? Will he turn round to snuggle to these same constituencies
and many others when it is time to look for votes and a renewal of his mandate?
It must be clear to President Mahama at this point in his handling
of affairs that he is gradually detaching himself from the “ground” and needs
to return there if only it will help him know exactly why the people are
complaining and becoming disaffected by the day; or why doing things to bring
them on board will eliminate the loopholes that his political opponents and
bitter critics are exploiting in their campaign of calumny against him. Only
when he re-connects with the “ground” will he see things beyond where his field
of vision has limited him for now. Is he really listening and gearing up to act
decisively?
I shall return…
·
E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
·
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